Dear Ma Nishma Subscriber,
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Download this issue of Ma Nishma as an MS Word document, for easier cut/paste into synagogue newsletters.
L'shalom,
Lisa Kelvin Tuttle
JRF Communications Director
July – August 2008 / Tammuz - Av 5768
Ma Nishma
News from the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
In This Issue
- Registration Now Open for the 42nd JRF Convention
- Experience Camp JRF Family Camp!
- Tikkun JRF Teen-Parent Week of Service
- The Challenge for Camp JRF
- Special Offers from JRF’s Reconstructionist Press
- Camp JRF is Available for Your Special Events
- JRF’s Sustainable Synagogue Initiative
- Harmoniyah is Now Part of JRF!
- JRF Officially Welcomed at JCPA 2008 Plenum
- Get Out the Vote: Why American Jews Must Vote
- Fighting Poverty With Faith: A Week of Action
- Rabbi Mark Kram Joins Beth Or
- Kol HaKavod!
Registration Now Open for the 42nd JRF Convention
Nov. 13-16, 2008 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel
“Transformative Judaism for the 21st Century”
Learn more and register!Experience the largest gathering of Reconstructionists in North America for four enriching days of learning, building connections, and sharing best practices to strengthen and grow our Reconstructionist communities.
Beautiful Boston Harbor
CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS
A Plenary Session on Identity, Community and Leadership is a dialogue between the generations — those involved today in creating "emerging communities" and those who were shapers of the Havurah movement in the '60s and '70s, now serving as leaders of the Reconstructionist Movement. Participants will include Rabbi David Teutsch, Zachary Teutsch, and Rabbi Michael Strassfeld.
Four special Forums will immediately follow the opening plenary, giving us an opportunity to explore the themes raised as we engage in conversations with leaders in their fields:
- Building the Jewish Identity of the Next Generation with Jonathan Woocher and Jerry Silverman
- Strengthening and Transforming Congregational Life with Rabbi Hayim Herring and Amy L. Sales
- Rethinking the Role of Movements in the 21st Century with Rabbi Joy Levitt and Rabbi Sid Schwarz
- What is the Forefront of Tikkun Olam? with Rabbi Toba Spitzer and others
Professor Jonathan Sarna, the foremost expert on American Jewish history, will join us on Thursday evening with a talk entitled American Judaism at a Crossroads: A Perspective on Reconstructionism from a Jewish Historian.
Shabbat services filled with ruach (spirit) and kavannah (intention) will bring us together as an extended Reconstructionist family.
Beit Midrash sessions on Shabbat afternoon include informal text study, creative exploration of Reconstructionist liturgy, and a celebration of the arts.
A special screening of Praying with Lior, an award-winning film by Ilana Trachtman. The film celebrates the Reconstructionist Bar Mitzvah of Lior Liebling, who has Down Syndrome, and explores themes of disability and spirituality.
Networking opportunities throughout Convention will facilitate connections between our communities, such as break-out sessions, affinity group meetings, and receptions. Come and contribute your questions and your congregation’s best practices to the conversations!
Harmoniyah--the Reconstructionist Music Network and RENA (Reconstructionist Educators of North America) will be participating in our Convention again this year.
Visit sights of Jewish interest in Boston or participate in a tikkun olam service opportunity on Sunday.
And much more!
Get all the details and register now at www.jrf.org/convention.
Experience Camp JRF Family Camp!
When: 5 pm on Wednesday, Aug. 13 - Noon on Sunday, Aug. 17
Where: Camp JRF, South Sterling, PA.
Experience as a family the joy, fun and community of Reconstructionist camping this summer at Camp JRF Family Camp. There’s something for everyone: activities for adults, teens, children and families!
Participants in Family Camp will enjoy all of JRF’s camp facilities and staff, including professional Jewish educators, rabbis, musicians, art and sports instructors, counselors, and our fantastic food.
Register now at www.jrf.org/family-camp. Space is limited! For more information contact info@campjrf.org or call 1-877-226-7573.
Tikkun JRF Teen-Parent Week of Service
Post-B’nai Mitzvah teens and their parents are invited to share a week working together to make a difference. Tikkun JRF is a tikkun olam project for teams of post-B’nai Mitzvah teens and parents, August 10-15, at Camp JRF in South Sterling, PA.
Space is limited! Enrollment is currently open for 20-30 adult and teen pairs, post-B’nai Mitzvah ages 13+ (teams may include one or two parents). You will live for a week in active, participatory community, connecting to local communities and providing much needed support and building work. We welcome your diverse skills and talents, including: carpentry, painting, meal planning, photography, team playing. Worker bees, educators, musicians and all others are welcome!
Download the registration form online at www.jrf.org/tikkun-JRF. To learn more, contact Eve Maslin at (215) 885-5601 or e-mail emaslin@jrf.org. For project information, contact Clifford Goldsmith at (617) 965-7323 or e-mail clifgold@hotmail.com.
The Challenge for Camp JRF
Camp JRF has set a goal to raise $1 million over the next 12 months as part of its new The Challenge for Camp JRF fundraising campaign. The first $500,000 contributed will be matched dollar-for-dollar, thanks to the auspices of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Gottesman Family.
The campaign has been organized by Rabbi Jeffrey Eisenstat, director of Camp JRF; David Nerenberg, president of the Jewish Reconstructionist Camping Corp.; and Archie Gottesman, chairman of the Camp Capital Campaign.
Program guidelines for The Challenge include:
- Minimum gift of $3,600 payable over three years (first gift installment payable within two months of the pledge commitment)
- Gifts from both new and previous donors to Camp JRF are eligible
- Gifts can be used for scholarship, annual, capital, or endowment needs
- Challenge concludes December 31, 2008
For further information, please contact Marla Friedenberg, Camp JRF development associate, at (215) 885-5601, ext. 28 or mfriedenberg@jrf.org.
Special Offers from JRF’s Reconstructionist Press
Do you have your own Mahzor for the High Holidays and does the congregation own enough? Our beautiful Mahzor Leyamim Nora’im (prayer book for the Days of Awe), part of the Kol Haneshamah Prayer Book Series, is now available for purchase in time for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Have you experienced Siddur Kol Hano’ar, the wonderful, colorful Shabbat siddur for children? Whether for your synagogue, for friends and family, or for your own home, it makes a great gift!
And now you can have all the Jewish holidays and important contact information at your fingertips with the JRF Pocket Diary for 5769. Check out all the fantastic offerings!
MAHZOR LEYAMIM NORA’IM
1250 pages, hardcover $42.00 ($33.60)
The first new Reconstructionist High Holy Day prayer book to be published since 1948, the Mahzor is an inclusive, comprehensive volume for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services; one that is rooted in the traditional Hebrew liturgy, yet fully contemporary. Some of the most prominent features of this volume are:
- All readings appear within the text, simplifying the selection of material for services.
- Constructed with a special strong, reinforced library quality binding.
- Printed on very thin, lightweight opaque paper.
- A new section, Kabbalat Hashanah, has been created to begin the erev Rosh Hashanah service.
- For Rosh Hashanah, the Mahzor can be used for a traditional shofar service and full Musaf, or combining the two in several different ways.
- On Yom Kippur, the Musaf service and Martyrology are integrated with the Avodah service creating a powerful, seamless whole.
SIDDUR KOL HANO’AR: THE VOICE OF CHILDREN
Transliterated edition available now!
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and Rabbi Jeffrey Schein
Illustrated in full color by Joani Rothenberg
This beautiful hardcover Shabbat prayer book for children ages 5-9 makes a wonderful gift for the whole family to share at home. $28/$23.80 for JRF members. Consider adding a set of matching note cards for a lovely gift set for just $5 more!
THE JRF POCKET DIARY FOR 5769 / 2008-2009
Available now! $8.25 (U.S.)
- Comprehensive calendar for the Jewish and secular year, including explanations of all Jewish holidays and important shabbatot
- Ample space to jot down appointments, with blank pages for notes and addresses
- Current listing of all JRF synagogues and havurot
- The platform and program of the Reconstructionist movement
Order by mail with a check payable to JRF and send to JRF, Beit Devora, 101 Greenwood Avenue, Suite 430, Jenkintown, PA 19046, or order by credit card by calling 877-JRF-PUBS. This unique, pocket-size Jewish calendar makes a great gift so order while supplies last!
The Reconstructionist Press is looking forward to seeing you at the 42nd JRF Convention in Boston this November—come to our table and see the new commemorative 10th Anniversary edition of A Night of Questions Reconstructionist Haggadah available for the first time there!
Camp JRF is Available for Your Special Events
Planning an annual Shabbaton or retreat? Consider holding it at Camp JRF on the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus. This beautiful facility in the Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains is now available for rental for our JRF congregations, boards, religious schools, JRF regional programs, teens, and the like.
For more information, please contact the Camp JRF office at 877-CAMP JRF (877-226-7573).
JRF’s Sustainable Synagogue Initiative
With the enthusiasm around JRF’s Omer Learning Initiative, as well as the solid response of JRF congregations in the Climate Change Initiative, JRF is continues to deepen its greening work with member communities next year. Our hope is to motivate and educate our congregations in sustainable practices, with the goal of reaching 100 percent participation in the years ahead, recognizing those JRF communities who excel at sustainable practices at the JRF Convention in Boston, 2008.
As this year's tikkun olam Omer Learning Initiative comes to a close, we want to thank all the many contributing individuals and congregations, as well as the over 800 on-line participants who signed up to receive the weekly postings from across Canada and the United States.
We especially thank Carl Sheingold, JRF's EVP, Bob Barkin, JRF’s President, Val Kaplan, the Chair of JRF’s External Affiliations Committee, and Dan Cedarbaum, JRF’s Immediate Past-President, for all their support in our social justice work and among other leaders in our movement and at the national table for JRF.
Brian Fink, RRC rabbinical student, has worked tirelessly and with great skill and commitment the last two years to help extend our reach to your communities and collect and develop resources for what you are committed to in terms of tikkun olam in your OWN communities. We wish Brian well as he continues his rabbinic studies in Israel next year.
A full listing of the 7 weeks of teaching packets is available at www.jrf.org/omer and the three related Tikkun Olam conference calls held as part of this year's PEARL initiative, available at www.jrf.org/PEARL-resources.
Please refer to the following additional links to find specific resources for tikkun olam:
Information on JRF’s Sustainable Synagogue Initiative can be found on the JRF website’s environment pages at www4.jrf.org/green-call and www4.jrf.org/climate.
For more information contact Rabbi Shawn Zevit, director of outreach and tikkun olam, SZevit@jrf.org.
Harmoniyah is Now Part of JRF!
At its June meeting, the JRF Board voted unanimously to support Harmoniyah: Reconstructionist Music Network's request to become an official project of JRF. The grass roots group of Reconstructionist cantors and musicians came together at the 40th JRF Convention in Portland, OR in 2002 and now boasts a steering committee, its own listserve with close to 150 registered members, a successful November 2007 retreat, programs at the 42nd JRF Convention (not to be missed!) and a future online catalogue of original music and arrangements by Reconstructionist musicians.
To join the Harmoniyah list serve, go to www.jrf.org/listserves. See the full details and resources for music in our movement at www.jrf.org/music.
JRF Officially Welcomed at JCPA 2008 Plenum
At the JCPA 2008 Plenum in Atlanta, JRF was officially welcomed as the newest member and fourth religious movement to have voting rights. The resolutions begin in one of three national task forces months beforehand and are refined in reports prior to the Plenum. JRF has 23 votes for each resolution on par with the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements and the other votes for the local JCRCs from various cities according to Jewish population size (cast by the individuals representing their members in consultation with their leadership team). JRF works closely with Rabbi Steve Gutow and JCPA's initiatives around stopping the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, ending hunger and poverty, climate change, and more.
To see the resolutions presented at the Plenum, visit www.jewishpublicaffairs.org.
Get Out the Vote: Why American Jews Must Vote
Get Out The Vote 2008Rabbi Yitzhak taught, "A ruler is not to be appointed unless the community is first consulted” —Talmud, B’rachot 55a
A crucial election day is only months away. At stake are vital political, economic and moral issues of concern to all Americans, in addition to issues of special concern to American Jews.
During the next four years, there will be important debates about the way our government does business. Legislation on significant issues such as health care, foreign aid, civil rights and support for Israel is likely to be considered by the next Congress and Administration. In addition, over the next four years, the President and Senate will confirm judges who will make crucial decisions affecting our lives. With the stakes so high, we must work to reverse the trend toward declining percentages of voters.
As Jews and American citizens we have an obligation to participate in the elections to ensure that our country's policies at the local, state and national levels reflect our commitment to social justice. Every vote counts and plays a defining role in setting policy agendas. It is our civic duty to register promptly, educate ourselves about the critical issues and VOTE!
The Get Out the Vote 2008 Guide provides you with tools, resources and information to help your congregation or community plan a successful voter engagement effort in advance of Election Day. This guide was designed for use by Jewish congregations and communal organizations wishing to conduct their own voter registration drives. We also encourage participation in voter registration drives in the general community. The same procedures and materials that are suggested here for use in the Jewish community can be adapted for voter registration use in the broader community.
The Guide was prepared by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and the larger Jewish community.
Download the Get Out The Vote 2008 Guide free of charge at www.jrf.org/get-out-the-vote-2008.
Fighting Poverty With Faith: A Week of Action
JRF endorses and joins national interfaith coalition "Fighting Poverty With Faith: A Week of Action", September 10-16, 2008
WHAT WILL THE CANDIDATES DO IN THEIR FIRST 100 DAYS
TO ADDRESS POVERTY AND OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA?
From September 10-16, 2008 people of faith across the country will be mobilizing their communities to ask their local, state and national candidates what they will do to address the pressing issues of poverty and opportunity in America in their first 100 days in office.
In communities across the country, people of faith will be calling and writing the candidates, holding forums to discuss these issues with civic and political leadership, engaging in interfaith community service to aid those in need in their communities, and otherwise highlighting the need for increased leadership on these issues.
By acting during this time, you can be a part of a national interfaith movement to build the political and public will to address poverty in America.
Join Us! Learn more at www.fightingpovertywithfaith.com, www.spotlightonpoverty.org and www.jrf.org/hunger, where you can find resources on how to participate and find events near you!
Rabbi Mark Kram Joins Beth Or
Rabbi Mark KramPlease join us in extending a warm welcome to Rabbi Mark Kram, who became the new spiritual leader of Temple Beth Or in Miami, FL, on July 1, 2008. In announcing the agreement with Rabbi Kram, Larry Goodman, President of Temple Beth Or, expressed the sentiments of the Congregation: “We are thrilled to welcome into our spiritual community an individual who has been such an integral part of the Greater Miami community for so many years and who has been a source of education, inspiration and comfort to so many of us.” Learn about Rabbi Kram at www.bethortemple.com/newrabbi.
Kol Hakavod!
Mazel tov to two congregations in our Western Region who celebrated building dedications in June. On June 8, members of Temple Beth Israel of Eugene, OR, moved into their new building, as did Temple Beth Hatfiloh of Olympia, WA, who commemorated the dedication of its beautifully renovated “new” site on June 22nd.
For the first time ever, Congregation Bnai Keshet in Montclair, NJ, held its summer retreat at Camp JRF, the camp of the Reconstructionist movement, in South Sterling, Pennsylvania, and it couldn’t have been better received. Over 80 BK congregants enjoyed the scenic, wooded grounds, the balance of recreation and hiddur mitzvah-themed programming, and the peaceful spirituality of the Memorial Day weekend spent with the BK community. Highlights included tefillot by the lake, the instant choir on Shabbat morning, an in-depth story discussion, thought-provoking Torah study, craft activities, a blazing campfire with s’mores, spirited games of baseball and basketball, and tasty food! For the many kids under 13 who attended, clear highlights were discovering a love for ga-ga (an Israeli ball game), tie-dying T-shirts, and finding dozens of furry caterpillars just about everywhere. Everyone is saying "Next year in South Sterling!"
Congregation Beth Hatikvah of Summit, NJ, celebrated its first Adult B’nai Mitzvah on Saturday, March 8, 2008 in a joyous service with Rabbi Amy Joy Small. Guests, family and members celebrated at a festive luncheon given by the congregation. The class studied for two years in preparation for this important day. Mazel tov to Gary DeBode, Katia Segre Cohen, Connie Seligman, Arleen Soldati, Carol Sussman-Skalka, and Leslie Weber.
Kudos to Nancy Larner, a member and teacher at Congregation Beth Evergreen in Denver, CO, on the fantastic response she has been receiving to her children’s book A Mouse in the Rabbi's Study. When her own home became inundated with mice around the High Holy Days, Nancy, a longtime early childhood educator, began to imagine what would happen if a mouse found its way into a rabbi's study at Rosh Hashanah. The rabbi she invented likes to eat at his desk and enlists the aid of the mouse to clean up his crumbs. Their humorous relationship extends through a year of Jewish holidays and gives Mazel the mouse a Jewish education, along with tastes of challah, latkes, hamantashen and other holiday leftovers. Then there's a great surprise ending! Learn about Nancy and her book at www.songsparrowpress.com.
JRF celebrates along with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College the graduation on June 1st of a new Reconstructionist cantor and 15 new Reconstructionist rabbis. Please join us in welcoming Cantor Jennifer Duretz, and Rabbis Jordan Bendat-Appell, Vanessa Grajwer Boettiger, Jameson Israel Greene, Melissa Jane Heller, Donna Kirshbaum, Leigh Ann Kopans, Darby Jared Leigh, Amanda Rachel Lurer, Nomi Chana Manon, Mark Melamut, Helen Plotkin, Sandra Michelle Rubenstein, Isaac Saposnik, Josh Snyder, and Benjamin Micah Weiner as leaders in our movement. We wish them all simcha (joy) and hatzlacha (success) in their new role, knowing the tremendous impact they will have on the communities they serve.
We wish all outgoing congregational presidents and officers a hearty mazal tov and extend our gratitude to you for the many ways you have served and will continue to contribute toward your congregations. Ye’asher koach to all the new leaders who have stepped up to make a difference in your congregation! We look forward to working together with you over the years to grow and strengthen our Reconstructionist communities.
Tell us about it!
JRF wants to hear about news and upcoming events at your congregation!
We don’t want to miss spreading any of your good news, so let us know of all the great things that happened over the summer and we will share all the simchas in the September issue of Ma Nishma.
Contact Communications Director Lisa Tuttle at ltuttle@jrf.org today.
